


Trapped in the NOT Closet

by Grimmy



Category: DCU, DCU Animated, Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-08-21
Updated: 2012-06-03
Packaged: 2017-10-22 21:41:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/242874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grimmy/pseuds/Grimmy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It should have been illegal to be trapped anywhere with that guy for more than five minutes. Too bad she was stuck there for more than nine hours.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Artemis just knew it was going to be a bad day, her morning was entirely too good for it not to be. She didn't bump her foot on the night table when she rolled out of that awkward position she'd wound up shifting to in her sleep. She didn't trip over all the mess in her floor, although she did make a mental note to clean that up later in the day. Her long blonde hair didn't get caught in the shower door. Wally didn't greet her with another one of his bad pick up lines, although she did have to admit they were funny, and the boy wonder hadn't eaten all her Apple Jacks.

Mornings usually were the exact opposite of that, only to fall into a relatively good day whether it was spent fighting crime, doing training drills, or goofing off. And while she hadn't been living with her team for very long, a little over a few months really, she'd gotten used to bad mornings. But the few times she endured a good morning, well, everything really sucked the rest of the day and she'd usually go to bed angry at the world and extremely tired.

So why, she had to wonder, didn't she decide to just stay at home when Batman informed them they had another mission. Sure, the big bad bat would be mad but that would be his problem. She could have just blamed it on that time of the month and Dinah would have gladly given anyone who'd opposed her stay a mouthful. But nooo, she was restless and wanted to stretch her legs.

She was asking for it big time and boy did she get it.  
It was a relatively easy mission. Go in, apprehend, get out. More of a test to see how fast the young heroes could complete the task. What they hadn't been expecting was the vast amount of henchmen, more like poorly made combat robots, the man they were going after had. Eventually the six split up into two person teams to get rid of the pests. And while she'd wanted to be paired with the much more laid back Kald- Aqualad she'd been paired with the one track minded powerhouse of their team.

Nothing against him personally, she actually enjoyed his company most days. But that was at home when he wasn't in smash and destroy mode. Out on the battlefield she definitely preferred Aqualad. They worked well together, often setting each other up for battle success. He was her first pick but he'd gone off with the Earth innocent M'gann.

She would have even preferred working with the Martian girl. No, they weren't the best of friends, something she noticed M'gann tried hard to be, but they made a decent team. It was obvious that the green girl was excited to have another girl to converse with but they hadn't quite found something on common ground other than superhero work. And M'gann found such inappropriate times to try and forge a bond. Artemis did have to admit, she admired the girl for trying so hard. At least she was genuinely sweet.

Working with the boy wonder Robin was more like working alone, aside from her constant worrying. She knew he was experienced, a lot more than anyone on the team but he was so young and small. And he disappeared... A lot. The few times they did work together she almost had a heart attack. These were crooks they were dealing with. She wouldn't put it past them to just snatch the boy up one day and... He was definitely better off working with Kid, the only one who could keep up with him.

Had it not been for Kid Flash's constant wise cracks and attempts at flirting she would have probably had the same problem working with him. He was always moving, always somewhere doing something. It actually surprised her how calm he was when he slept. And while she never worried about him getting caught, that thought actually made her chuckle, she was worried he'd end up in more trouble. It was like he asked for it specifically. No, he did ask for it. The quick boy had quite the mouth on him.

But of course she would have gotten paired with her polar opposite. She used her head, he used his fists. And before she knew it they were separated. She hadn't realized just how far away she'd gone until she was all alone. They were fighting in a hotel that was being completely renovated and she'd wound up in an area that not only looked extremely unfamiliar but it looked extremely old as well. She was reminded of one of the horror movies she'd watched with Robin.  
It was quiet. Eerily so. She couldn't even hear her footsteps because of the soft plush carpet. On the bright side she could see a trolley and an elevator not too far off. And if the elevator didn't take her anywhere she could just turn down the hallway in front of it because going straight just wasn't getting her anywhere.

Noise.

The closer she got... She could hear it in the distance, it sounded a little like something breaking and... groaning. Her mind conjured thoughts of dark creatures and she swore mentally at Robin for convincing her to watch that damn Silent Hill movie. If a Nurse hopped out and killed her she was going to haunt the thirteen year old until he died.

She stepped closer to the elevator and soon she was able to see the doors and slightly down the hallway. She screamed when the doors suddenly opened only to notice that a trick arrow had been shot at the down button and opened the metal contraption. An embrarassed blush covered her cheeks and she slapped her forehead. Pyramid Head wasn't coming to kill her after all.

Wait...

Trick arrow...

A bright smile settled on her face as she stepped forward, expecting to see her mentor. "Ollie I wa-"  
Only to be crashed into. Right into the elevator. Her head hit the wall almost hard enough to knock her out. Her eyes snapped shut and she heard, it sounded really far off, the door to the elevator close. A thumping noise. And something... She was on something. And something was pressing down on her back.

Artemis blinked rapidly, feeling rather dizzy and nauseous. She rolled onto the floor of the elevator, away from whatever that was. That pain in her head... Why was it so bright in here? She winced and opened her eyes to see what hit her so hard, pretty sure that it wasn't an enemy. If it had been she would have probably been dead by now.

"-okay? Hello? Are you okay kid?" It must have been speaking before. It's voice had suddenly faded in, past that blinding pain and odd whirring noise that seemed hell bent on giving her a migraine.

She licked her lips and blinked slowly, her vision was getting less blurry now. Wait... She gagged a little. She must have split her lip or something because the sharp metallic taste of blood was assaulting her taste buds. She blinked again. All of a sudden a bit of blood didn't matter because the person who'd just become vision was most certainly not Oliver Queen.

And if that loud strained noise and sudden shaking and stillness of the elevator was anything to go off of, she was trapped in this thing.

Trapped.

With not Ollie.

In an elevator that no one probably knew existed.

Fuck.


	2. Chapter 2

Artemis huffed angrily, a dusky pink flush coating her currently puffy cheeks. It had already been half an hour and she still hadn't been able to force her way out of the  _stupid_  elevator. And he just stood there, leaning against the wall, a frown marring his sharp features. Not doing anything. She growled angrily and kicked the door again in frustration, not that it helped much. It didn't budge, not even in the slightest, and now her foot was throbbing.

So, in addition to being trapped with an unemotional, and when he was emotional she didn't like it much more, jackass, she probably had a broken foot. She swore aloud.

"Can't you do anything?" she finally growled as she turned around to face him. He didn't say anything but she knew, she just knew he was arching an eyebrow behind that domino mask. He simply sighed loudly through his nose before pushing himself away from the wall, stepping towards her and tapping the end of his bow against the elevator door.

"Well, I tried."

Artemis was not amused.

 **The first hour**

 _I have decided to start some sort of mental diary to pass the time until I get out of this hellish oven. Who's idea was it to put an operating, poorly operating, elevator in the soon to be destroyed crappy side of the hotel? Note to self, bathe once you get home. Bathe a lot. This place is just disgusting._

Artemis was pretty sure that she wasn't going to get out of there using brute force and  _Speedy_ , he'd insisted she call him Red Arrow but she refused to do so, didn't really seem eager to help. In fact, he hadn't helped at all. He said that he preferred watching her make a fool of herself in an attempt to escape. She was pretty sure that he'd gotten just what he wanted.

When prying the thick steel doors open didn't work she tried to pull them apart with her hands resulting in two ripped nails. They'd stop bleeding no more than ten minutes ago, not that she knew the time. Neither of them had a way to tell time. Her cellphone had such a bad signal that it died when she tried to call out and her communicator didn't really fair any better. She hadn't even seen the much taller redhead try and call for help. It was like he knew something she didn't and Artemis didn't like not being in the know.

After the attempt at power housing her way out failed she decided to rest a bit before jumping up and down in the elevator. It didn't move and suddenly drop like she hoped it would and she found herself disappointed and even angrier. It didn't help that  _Speedy_  had that toothy smirk on his face as he watched her bounce all over the place. Who the hell flashed their teeth when they smirked anyways! She wished she could smack the teeth right out of his mouth.

She'd just finished trying to shoot her way out of the elevator; she didn't get very far with that one after she almost shot a trick arrow filled with tear gas.  _Speedy_  quickly snatched the arrow, and her bow, away from her. Artemis was also unsuccessful in getting them back. Her head hadn't stopped pounding since she realized where she was and all she wanted to do was sleep forever.

She couldn't even lay down in the elevator because not only was it filthy but she was forced to share her space with a teenage boy. One she didn't know at that. And he  _was_  Ollie's ward. She could only imagine the things that were running through his head. She shuddered and tried to forget that he still hadn't stopped staring at her. It was unnerving.

She glared, it looked more like a pouty leer thanks to her slightly swollen bottom lip, up at him and folded her arms across her chest. He didn't look fazed but that toothy smirk did return and Artemis had to resist the urge to actually go through with smacking the teeth out of his mouth. Even when he didn't talk he somehow managed to get on her nerves. It was official. He was now on her long, very long, list of people she hated.

He yawned and scratched his nose, not bothering to attempt and dispel the awkward, at least Artemis thought it was, silence.

She moved him to the top of her hate list.

 **The second hour**

 _Hello mental diary. How are you today? I'm peachy aside from the fact that I've been stuck in this god forsaken elevator for at least three days. Oh, by the way mental diary, if you get the chance I'd like for you to punch my brain in the face. You see, my brain has taken it upon its self to drive me insane with it's terrible pounding. Feel free to ease my torture session and help me out any time now._

 _No?_

 _Okay. I totally understand._

 _On another note I think this hunk of junk moved. And I'm pretty sure the team noticed that I haven't reported back for at least a week. I'm sure they'll be here to rescue me by the end of the month... This is starting to become really sad and I'm obviously insane._

"So why are you here?"

That one innocent question caused Artemis to nearly jump out of her skin. It took a few seconds for her to regulate her heartbeat but as soon as she did she went back to glaring at the older hero. That toothy smirk was starting to look more like a toothy grin which was equally frustrating. That meant he thought she was funny. Her nose crinkled as she frowned. "You first," she responded.

"I'm here because the elevator doors are jammed," he replied coolly. She could tell he was arching an eyebrow behind his domino mask again and she hated to admit that she probably would have said something along the same lines.

"That's not funny."

"Well I'm no comedian."

"Yes," she finally said, "But why are you in this hotel? What are you doing here? And I swear if you say something stupid like breathing I'll-"

"Relax blondie. This  _is_  Star City. I was checking up on a disturbance in the area and I decided to stop by. You looked like you needed the help." He looked thoughtful for a moment before focusing on Artemis again. Another yawn. "So why exactly are you here?"

Artemis' blue eyes narrowed and she tilted her head upwards defiantly. "Oh, you know, just wandering around before I was tackled by some ginger with a bad haircut." She folded her arms back across her chest and smirked at him, obviously pleased with her response. "You know how it is right?"

She stopped smirking when she saw that toothy smirk creep back onto his face. Again. She growled softly in frustration. "I can't say that I do," he finally said. "Although this guy sounds pretty damn good looking. If you keep blushing like that I'll have to assume you have a crush on him or something. Kids have the uncanny habit of insulting the ones they like the most."

Artemis' eyes widened as she processed what he said before a dark blush stained her cheeks. She ahemed roughly and forced the tattle-tell color away before resuming her glare. "Don't assume. You'll make an ass out of you and me... But mostly you."

He actually started to laugh, not a tiny chuckle but a deep, powerful laugh that actually made him shake all over. She wasn't sure if he was laughing at what she said or her in general. It made her feel a little self conscious and she shifted awkwardly. Not that what he thought of her actually mattered but she didn't exactly want him to think something was wrong with her. She pulled her long blonde ponytail over her shoulder and started to toy with the end of it.

"Are you always so-"

"-Charming?" she quickly interrupted him. She nodded her head. "Very."

He laughed again, although not as hard as before. Artemis frowned. He wasn't smirking or grinning anymore. Just smiling at her. Even then he radiated cockiness and confidence. It was almost... attractive. She groaned mentally and resisted the sudden urge to punch the forever returning pink stains from her cheeks. "I was thinking more along the lines of cantankerous and bitchy."

She bit back her angry retort and just scowled at him.  _Way to ruin everything Speedy_.

 **The third hour**

 _Dear mental diary, I hate you. Correction, I just hate everything in general right now. I know I'm not the nicest person in the world, not by a long shot, but I can't imagine why God would want to punish me like this. I'd honestly rather break my collar bone again. Did I mention that my head still hurts. Thanks random migraines, you don't make me want to punch babies in the face. You make me want to punch old women in the face._

 _I just realized something... That bastard called me a kid! I am not a kid!_

"I'm not a kid!"

Artemis flashed  _Speedy_  a dirty look. She wasn't sure if he saw it or not since they'd sat down quite some time ago and he hadn't moved since. He didn't sound like he was sleeping... Her eyebrows furrowed and her face relaxed as she leaned closer to him to inspect his still form.

His back was against the corner of the elevator and he wasn't leaning completely against it, his upper back was the only part of his body that actually touched the walls. His head bobbed forward a bit, almost as if it was suspended in thin air. He didn't fold his legs but they were pulled close to his body. And if she looked hard enough she could just make out one of his arms cradling the other. In fact, she could actually see that the one being held was an odd purple color and looked a little lumpy.

She wondered how she didn't notice that before. It looked broken. Even still, he hadn't indicated that he was in pain and they had been there for a couple of hours. Artemis wasn't really sure how long they'd been trapped in the elevator. At times it seemed like only a few minutes had passed but at the moment it felt like days had gone by. She was so sleepy and her stomach had started to growl every now and then.

"Turn around."

Artemis jumped and nearly slammed her head back against the wall.  _Speedy's_  head had snapped up and she just knew that he was looking at her. It didn't matter that his head was tilted towards the ceiling. She yawned and blinked a couple of times, trying to think of some sort of defiant response but she finally settled on, "No."

"Whatever then. I warned you." The redheaded hero climbed to his feet, she tried to get a peek at his arm but he turned slightly to the side and it sagged slightly behind him. Of course, this was all deemed unimportant when she heard a loud zipping noise rip through the air and noticed that he was undoing his fly. Her eyes widened and everything after that was pure female instinct.

She rolled onto her back and pushed her lower body off the ground. Her feet connected hard with his side and he slammed back against the wall. Right on that broken arm. The scream that echoed in the suddenly too tight elevator was so raw that it made her tremble. She leaped to her feet and started to back against the wall, as far away from  _Red Arrow_  as she could manage. Only, she didn't make it.

He'd snatched her up by her long blonde hair. She could feel tears prickling behind her eyelids, his grip was so tight, and she wondered if he could snap her neck in this awkward position. She didn't put it past him. How he managed to be so powerful when he was obviously injured left her slightly baffled.

"STOP! STOP, STOP, STOP!"

"What the... fuck did... you kick me for?" Artemis had never been afraid of a question before... It had to be his tone because she was halfway near wetting herself.

She could practically hear him grinding his teeth back and forth, just barely managing to suppress his rage. With the way his grip was some how tightening on her hair she was pretty sure he was close to snapping. She tried to relax, hoping he'd just let go. "I-I thought you were trying to rape me. Let me g-" She was suddenly pushed away and her scalp was no longer throbbing with intense pain. It still hurt though.

Artemis swallowed as she watched the redhead. He rubbed his eyes with his good hand and pulled a bottle from his quiver. He didn't look as angry as he had a few seconds ago but his expression was strained. He was a lot better at hiding his pain than she could be.

"What are you doing?" she asked softly. She swallowed and waited for a response. He'd unscrewed the lid off the jar by placing it on his shoulder and holding it in place with his head so he'd only need one arm. He started to fiddle with his fly again and at the first sight skin and what she was sure was red hair she turned around. Fast. Her cheeks had never felt so warm and she knew she was definitely blushing.

"Pissin' in a jar," he responded gruffly.

"YOU ARE NOT PISSING IN HERE!" Artemis started to turn back around but she thought better of it half way through and decided to stay facing the wall.  _Naturally red_. That was not helping. She wished her brain would just shut the hell up.

"Shush, your harpy voice is making it hard to-" He sighed and she could hear a tinkling sound.

"Dammit Harper! Cut that out!" Ooh, she really wished she had something to throw at him. Preferably a brick. She groaned and smacked her forehead against the elevator wall. Not a good idea. Her headache instantly flared up again.

"Shut up! Almost there, almost-" Another sigh.

The tinkling sound ended and Artemis could just make out a zipping noise. For a second she thought that he was doing something that definitely couldn't be mistaken for urinating. Oh God. She groaned again and shook her head before punching  _Speedy_  in his good arm. "You're fucking sick."

He only laughed, she noticed that this one sounded a bit less joyful than the other one, and placed the jar back in his quiver. "You never know when that'll come in handy. You wanna make one?" It almost sounded like... Like he was flirting. Artemis clenched her fists and punched him in the chest.

"NO!"

He shrugged and they resumed their positions on the floor, settling back into that same silence. Only now he was staring at her. She couldn't see his eyes but she could just tell that he was watching. She squirmed, somehow even more uncomfortable than she was before.

"What?"

"Yeah, you definitely aren't a kid." That toothy smirk.

He  _was_  flirting.


End file.
